OrlandoSentinel

A seventh-grader steals a pack of cigarettes, his first offense. A ninth-grader vandalizes a car, also his first offense. Increasingly in Florida, such juvenile offenders are not being arrested.

Instead, they're being given written civil citations.

They still face sanctions such as being forced to do community service and pay restitution, but they come away with no arrest record.

It's a reform championed by Gov. Rick Scott, and Wednesday at 10 a.m. at the Orange County Courthouse, local law enforcement officials, Orange-Osceola State Attorney Jeff Ashton, Public Defender Robert Wesley and officers of the League of Women Voters of Orange County will hold a news conference to give a status report on how Central Florida law enforcement agencies measure up. Orange County is 64% white. [MORE]

According to the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, half of the juvenile offenders eligible for civil citations statewide received them instead of facing arrest.

In Orange County, that average was 39 percent in a recent 12-month period.

"Why do civil citations? Because it saves beaucoup money and, for whatever reason, the re-offense rate is dropped, too. Any time you can save money and drop the re-offense or recidivism rate, that's good," Smith said.

The recidivism rate for young offenders who receive civil citations is 5 percent, according to the Department of Juvenile Justice. That's one-third of the recidivism rate for offenders who are placed on probation and supervised by state employees. For the most serious Florida juvenile offenders sent to a residential facility, the recidivism rate is nearly 10 times that or 45 percent, department records show.